Chris Vannoy
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At the birthplace of Dylan Thomas.
Right before closing time on Thursday 18th May this chap turned up at Dylan's door. Currently in the UK is a man considered to be San Diego's 'beat poet laureate' Chris Vannoy. The wordsmith, who is originally from Kansas, is touring the UK armed with his lyrical bombs from his books 'The Rest of It' & 'A Strange Summer' and entertaining all that are willing to listen. Chris, who refers to himself as the 'cat with the hat' even performed at 'Howl' one of Swansea's many spoken word evenings.
Here he is performing his piece 'I got beat in San Francisco' in the inspiring surroundings of Dylan's bedroom.

Chris Vannoy, from San Diego, has been writing for most of his life.  Promoter, editor, teacher, and tireless advocate of words both heard and spoken; he works endlessly to raise up words from page to ear and from mouth to the air.  He is the originator of the Poet’s Tree featured  and open reading series, as well as editor of the Poet’s Tree Press.

Chris has been published in Ghosts of the Beatnik  Poets, City Works, The Writing Center, Tokes anthologies, Visions, and Step Jazz magazines.  He has participated in San Diego’s Quincy Troupe’s “Artist’s on the Cutting Edge” series, Lollapalooza Spoken Word Tent, Border Voices Poetry in the Park, Tearing the Curtain 3, and a poetry exchange between San Diego and Orange County.   He was one of twenty-five San Diego Poets featured in the Exploded Views CD and two CDs from San Diego based group Wormhole.

In 1998 Mr. Vannoy was published in the Poetry Calendar and JOE’S JOURNAL Best of the Beach.  In 2000, he read at Mills College in Oakland, and at the West Coast Regional slam at Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, California.  In 2005 he was on the first San Diego slam team to go to the Slam Nationals in Seattle.

This year he has performed with performance poetry troupe “The Mightier P.E.N.S”,  and hosted several open poetry mic’s.  He is also curator for the “Bedder Poetry Reading” series and the International Beat Poetry Festival in San Diego.   His recent books, published by Baxter Daniels Ink Press are,  “A Strange Summer” (2014), where much of his performance poetry is compiled and “The Rest of It”, recently released in the Spring of 2017.  His next book, “All There Is”, will be published in the Spring of 2018.



A Sailors Journey for Home ………03/27/17

I hear the boat pulling against the mooring ropes
They  creak like old spirits as they
Strain to keep the ship snug against this dock
Where the sea birds sing
To the night as they sleep on choppy water
Waiting for the dawn’s next coming
 to wake them with it’s light.

I visited an old bookstore in the village
Annile, the owner,  welcomed me
With hot coffee and smiles
I Looked at a book with pictures of the changing seasons
Found spring flowers and winters snow
Sitting in her window

we sat warm inside
Sheltered from the chittering wind
that shook the budding branches
outside the iced window

I told her of the home that I would sail to
And of the girl who waited for me in Lisbon
On a small piece of land
Where we have planned to settle down
with goats and chickens and children laughing in the wind








Arlandia 03/23/17

He was waiting at the airport
for his wife to come from Syria

Three and one half years it had been
since he had seen her smile
warm as the bread she had baked for him
on the day he left to find this new life
across the ocean

cradled in his arms were a bouquet  of ling stemmed red roses
roses like the ones that grew in their garden
a garden now buried in stones

behind him was the war that had taken most of his friends
and some of his family

He paced the newly polished floor in anticipation
his new shoes squeaking with each step
and he knew that with each step
she was coming closer to him








Oh Ginsberg 05/10/17

Oh Ginsberg!
Your wormy mouth still speaks to me
Invites me to protest the unjust Trump
Where the millions march against tyranny
As the moneyed sit in their manufactured security
Counting fat profit over lives spent in their struggled days

Oh Ginsberg!
Say your mantra for us now
US, the living and for
This rattled day of uncertain dreams
Where our aspirations
Wither on the vines of stormy discontent.
And the few coins in our holy pocket pouch
Are stretched between
Medicine and food and rent
While the world crashes angrily around us
In a vortex that only spins us to where
Skeletons grin mockingly
And we see no future in their hollow eyes.

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